Protection of Fruit Trees. 



243 



THE WIRE SCREEN. 



This is the ideal and complete, all-round protector, and it is, there- 

 fore, given first place among the 

 mechanical forms. True, it is 

 more expensive than many others, 

 but it is lasting and thoroughly 

 effective against all kinds of ro- 

 dents which prey upon the stems 

 of young trees. Being so light 

 and open, it presents the least ob- 

 struction to strong winds; the air 

 and sunshine are freely admitted; 

 no dark and secure places of con- 

 cealment, such as invite woolly- 

 aphis and other forms of insect 

 life are afforded. 



This protector is made of gal- 

 vanized wire cloth of one quarter 

 inch mesh (four 22 gauge wires 

 to the inch) which may be pur- 

 chased from the larger supply 

 houses in rolls of one hundred 

 lineal feet and in any width from 

 twenty-four to thirty-six inches. 



For apple trees the 24-inch 

 width is usually the more conveni- 

 ent size. This is cut crosswise 

 with tinners' snips or shears into 

 12-inch sections, making pieces ^ig. e. vicious work of woodchucks. 

 12x24 inches in size. These sections are carefully bent or rolled over a 

 small round piece of wood (a section of broom or fork handle will an- 

 swer), shaping them into cylinders 21/0 to 3 inches in diameter. It is 

 well to allow the edges to lap about one inch. 



The cylinders are placed about the stem of the trees where their 

 own tension will close them securely. 



At the present quoted price of $3.00 per roll of 100 lineal feet for 

 24-inch wire cloth, protectors of the dimensions given will cost $3.00 

 per hundred, aside from the work of cutting and shaping them, which 

 anyone handy with tools can readily do. 



